Why does everyone ask this question... IT DEPENDS ON GENETICS PERIOD. Come on people, don't ask this question again.

Every question deserves an answerby: kmhappel

@Anonymous. I have been owned by three Aussies so far and am about to have a fourth fur friend.

You are correct that genetics is the final cause of a dogs natural weight yet while genetics is, in the end, the answer, it is not so obvious for an owner like me or, by the way, my vet to find out what that ideal or genetically determined weight should be.

One reason is because to this day, I have never received a weight report from a breeder about the parents. Pictures of the parents don't help much either.

My first Aussie, a female black-tri weighed about 50 pounds full grown and was very fit (we surfed together) and 23 inches high at the shoulder. She had a thin natural coat and looked much lighter than her 49/50 lbs.

My second Aussie was about 55 lbs. but was about 20 inches at the shoulder. No amount of dietary change reduced the weight much. She was not overweight but had, at least, twice as thick a coat as my first Aussie and looked MUCH bigger and heavier until you were in the shower.

My current black tri weighed 30 lbs at ten weeks and is thin and a smaller standard expected to be about 18 inches high at adulthood. Visually you would not guess that she weighs more than 20 lbs.

I have asked the ideal weight question many times myself, because people said my second Aussie "looked fat", especially when she was just out of the bath. She had four inches of fur all the way around her. Her coat had a huge amount of fine down that pushed her main coat hairs strongly outward.

When you rubbed her coat around her ribs you would feel her ribs clearly. She had a clear demarkation from ribcage to tummy area and the vet also noticed that rigorous dieting didn't alter her weigh more than a pound or two in total. Finally I gave her a haircut and the comments ended...

Maybe we need to ask the original questioner whythey want to know. If it is a question of the dog being perceived as overweight or underweight the answer may be found in a physical exam.

My vet led me to understand that if the ribs are clearly demarked and the ribcage to tummy area transition shows a clear indentation you are probably ok.

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